Munster 37 Sale 14:Munster smashed Sale to smithereens, scoring six tries in the process, to claim an 11th straight Heineken Cup quarter-final on a brilliant night for the reigning champions at Thomond Park.
There may have been signs of the January blues earlier in the month, but this competition brings the best out of the men in red as they crushed the English side in emphatic fashion.
Led by a man-of-the-match performance from skipper Paul O’Connell, Munster scored two tries in the opening 12 minutes and took a 12-6 lead into the break.
A David Wallace try just 30 seconds into the second half increased their lead before Sale clawed back to within five points after Charlie Hodgson went over.
That proved the cue for Munster as they moved up the gears, with Ian Dowling, Tomás O’Leary and Paul Warwick all going over for tries to secure the Pool A title ahead of next weekend’s trip to Montauban.
O’Connell praised the effort of his side, who laid the groundwork with a tough week of training.
“We put a lot of ourselves into this week. After the Ulster game we picked up on every little thing that went wrong and that has shown in the last two games. We filled the jersey well today,” said O’Connell
The captain was also delighted with the early tries in both halves, which he admitted was part of the game-plan going in. “People talk about championship minutes, the first and last ten in each half and we went out with the intention of scoring first.”
Playing into a strong breeze in the first half, Munster gave their supporters an early chance to raise the roof when O’Connell got over in the fifth minute.
Keith Earls made the initial break before kicking through. The ball was moved out to Warwick on the wing and his grubber was bravely pounced on by Ronan O’Gara right on the Sale line.
O’Connell took the aerial route, the try given after a brief viewing from the television match official.
O’Gara pushed the conversion right before opposite number Hodgson missed with a penalty kick after Wallace was pinged for an infringement at a ruck.
Munster indiscipline at the breakdown would have worried coach Tony McGahan in the opening quarter, with Hodgson making no mistake after nine minutes from another penalty.
The home side were moving the ball well, with the outstanding Wallace popping up on the wing to devastating effect. And on 12 minutes it paid off when Jerry Flannery ended a wonderful move to dot down in the corner from Wallace’s pass. An excellent conversion from O’Gara left his side 12-3 to the good.
Wallace received another let-off five minutes later when Hodgson missed a penalty after the flanker was again penalised.
Two minutes later they weren’t so lucky when Flannery was sin-binned for a reckless foot trip on Sale hooker Marc Jones.
All Black Luke McAlister took over the kicking duties from Hodgson and made no mistake to keep his side within distance.
Munster very nearly made in three tries within the opening half hour, but Earls was penalised for a forward pass with both Warwick and Dowling on the overlap outside him as the last scoring chance of the half was wasted.
With the conditions in their favour the home side made a brilliant start to the second half as Wallace showed his immense strength to get up from a tackle and power his way over inside the first minute.
O’Gara kicked the extras to put his side 19-6 up before Sale enjoyed their one period of dominance as McAlister knocked over a penalty before Hodgson got over for a try after good runs from Rudi Keil and Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Trailing by just five points, Sale may have sniffed an opportunity. But those hopes were snuffed out in spectacular fashion as Munster started to move through the gears.
O’Gara’s delicate chip left Hodgson in two minds and the England outhalf spilled the ball for Dowling to go over and secure the bonus point.
O’Leary was next in on the act, breaking off the back of a strong scrum to waltz over, before Warwick had a free run from the half-way line after a quick tap from Lifeimi Mafi.
Warwick added a late penalty right on the final whistle to wrap up Munster’s most convincing performance of the season.
SCORING SEQUENCE
5 mins:O'Connell try 5-0; 9:Hodgson pen 5-3; 13:Flannery try, O'Gara con 12-3; 20:McAlister pen 12-6; ( half-time 12-6); 46:Wallace try, O'Gara con 19-6; 50:McAlister pen 19-9. 57:Dowling try 24-14; 66:O'Leary try 29-14; 74:Warwick try 34-14; 80:Warwick pen 37-14.
MUNSTER:P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; RO'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements:D Fogarty for Leamy (temp 19-27); D Ryan for Quinlan (55); N Ronan for Leamy (71); P Stringer for O'Leary (72); B Murphy for O'Gara (75); D Fogarty for Flannery (76);
SALE:M Cueto; C Bell, A Tuilagi, L McAlister, D Doherty; C Hodgson, R Wigglesworth; L Faure, M Jones, E Lewis-Roberts, S Chabal, D Schofield, C Jones, N Briggs, J Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements:R Keil for Tuilagi (27); A Sheridan for Faure (45); B Cockbain for Schofield (46); C Fearns for M Jones (57); M Tait for Hodgson (62)
REFEREE:Nigel Owens (Wales)
